Rock Doc

When I was young my family ate a lot of Red Delicious apples. Some came out of my trusty lunchbox at school, some were straight from the refrigerator at home. The apples were big and eye-catching, but in my opinion they left something to be desired in their eating qualities. Still, they gave us a reasonably economical and convenient fruit choice, and we were glad to have them.

These days there are lots of options in the stores when it comes to apples, from the traditional varieties like Red Delicious, Jonathan and McIntosh to newer varieties like Honeycrisp and Jazz. Depending on how sweet or...